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Justice News

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Western District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Canadian Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Mohammed Yassin, 42, of Hamilton, Ontario, who was convicted of bank fraud, was sentenced to 26 months in prison and ordered to pay $36,100 in restitution by U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell T. Ippolito, Jr., who handled the case, stated that Yassin, a citizen and resident of Canada, opened a business bank account at a Key Bank branch located in Niagara Falls, N.Y. in the name of Montsaida, Inc. Between April 2, 2009 and May 8, 2009, the defendant deposited fraudulent pre-authorized debits (“PADS”) into Montsaida’s account. The false PADS deposited to the account purportedly represented money owed to Montsaida by the payers listed on the PADS. Key Bank relied upon the deposited PADS to calculate the daily cash balance of funds in the Montsaida business checking account.

On May 8, 2009, the defendant withdrew money from the Montsaida account by electronically transmitting funds from the account by means of wire communication to bank accounts in Canada. Yassin caused three separate wire transactions to transmit funds from the Montsaida account in the amounts of $8,500, $10,300 and $11,000, totaling $29,800. This money represented funds from the deposit of the false and fraudulent PADS.

Between February 26, 2009, and March 28, 2009, the defendant committed similar fraudulent acts against Bank of America. The total loss to Key Bank and Bank of America was $36,100.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation by the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Tracy Gast.